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Ali jumped out of the Mondeo, ran across the busy road and onto the island where he was arrested and was found to have six small bags of cannabis in his shoulder bag.

When he was questioned, he said he had borrowed the car from a friend, and denied knowing it had been stolen, explaining that he had tried to get away because of the cannabis and because he had no licence or insurance.

Mr Fairley pointed out that the Yaris belonged to a driving instructor and was being driven by a young female learner at the time, and it had extensive damage to the bodywork and axle which cost £6,000 to repair.

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And Deputy Judge Richard Griffith-Jones observed: “It has affected his confidence, not just that of his pupil. He says he is seriously considering a career change, because it’s the third such incident.

“We don’t know how the female pupil has reacted, but just imagine being a learner driver and that happening.”

What did the defence say?

Andrew Tucker, defending, submitted: “The maximum sentence is two years, and he pleaded guilty at the plea and trial preparation hearing, so Your Honour could take the view that it was just possible to suspend it.

“He recognises the stupid way in which he behaved, and that his addiction to cannabis is getting him into more and more trouble. He does seem to be showing some signs of maturing.”

Mr Tucker conceded Ali had a poor record, but said both of his parents are disabled and only able to communicate using sign language, which he uses, and is able to help them, but his younger brothers do not.

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What did the judge say?

But jailing Ali, Judge Griffith-Jones told him: “You were completely selfish in your motivation to drive as dangerously as you did because you knew you didn’t have insurance or a proper driving licence, and you knew you were in possession of cannabis.

“In order to get away from the police you drove through a number of red lights – and every time you did, you created a risk of a collision and catastrophic injury to people using the road.

“You did eventually hit a couple of cars, and your car wasn’t able to continue, and you then got out and fled.

“One of the cars was a driving instructor’s who had got a pupil in the car. You did very serious damage to the car and made a significant contribution to his loss of confidence in his whole occupation. One only has to imagine how the young pupil driver would feel.

“I want you and everyone else to understand that people who drive dangerously in this way will receive a custodial sentence.